You might think that in a land of musical geniuses, from Joseph Haydn to Gustav Mahler, that the Haus der Musik (the House of Music) museum, would have been around forever. In fact, it opened only in 2000, under the chairmanship of Zubin Mehta. But it’s made a splash since then, spread over four floors of an archduke’s palace that was once home to the leader of the original Vienna Philharmonic. You’ll learn there how the waltz rose from folk to elite status. The Haus also calls itself a “museum of sound” with its interactive exhibits, where even the staircase doubles as a piano. If you’ve ever wished to conduct an orchestra, just grab a baton and do so with a video of The Blue Danube being performed by the Philharmonic, whose current home is nearby.
